From what I heard, there is a definite problem. I caught the tail end of it, and don't know the exact numbers, but it was something like this: in an area known for Buchanan supporters, there was "300" votes for him. In the area in question, which is supposed to be a big democrat area there was "5000" votes for Buchannan. I honestly don't know what they can do about it at this point, but they'd better get to work making sure it never happens again.

Although, it does work out nice for those of us who want Bush to win. :)

Michelle


>From what I saw on CNN last night, the bigger problem was not the ballot itself, but the fact that some or all of the ballots did not align properly when inserted into the voting machines. This (if you see it) makes it relatively easy for a Gore voter to accidentally punch the Buchanan spot. Some apparently did only this, while others accidentally punched Buchanan first, realized the mistake, and then punched Gore also. Those were some of the 15,000 or more "tossed" ballots, on top of the perhaps 3,000 potentially bad Buchanan ballots.
>
>How to resolve this, if it occurred, is the big problem. I would begin by pulling the 3500 or so Palm Beach Buchanan votes, and contacting a random sample of those 3500 voters. If the "Yes, I'm a Buchanan voter" sample appears within a reasonable confidence interval, that settles it. You are NOT going to find Buchanan supporters lying about voting for Gore, I think we can rest assured :) If the sample is highly aberrant, then you've got a big problem.